Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[babydoll65]

Has it been mentioned anywhere when they plan on opening booking past Sept 2021?. Hoping to book Dec 4-11 for next year.

 

[chicagoshannon]

It's definitely frustrating for all passholders but especially out of state ones as you need to spend a lot of money just to get there and not know if you will be able to get into a park (or max 3 days)

Not sure what the proper solution is as I get why they need to limit things somehow (though you should definitely able to get your 3 days on top of your resort stay)

Maybe give people 3 a month plus 4 extra so they can reserve some days out in the future for an upcoming trip but still have some flexibility for sooner dates? Or have so many for in the future but if within 14 days or something then no limit?

I'd be ok if they did 7 book ahead days. That's what they did with FP+ and while still not ideal for us (we usually come for 10 days) it was an ok compromise. But even with that we could at least still get into a park even if we didn't have FP. To not even be able to get into a park is just not cool. I am optimistic a bit though that they'll change that limitation soon when they realize people aren't travaling down. They'lll need the AP's just like they did after 9/11.

 

[Hummingbird]

I wonder if keeping the 3 buckets is also an attempt to keep attendance down. If they opened park availability up to everyone, most likely AP's would scoop up leftover tickets since it is more convenient for them to go. I am not saying that I agree with this...just saying it could be being done for crowd control.

I don’t think it’s likely that AP would book up all the spaces as we are limited to 3 days while everyone else gets to book the number of days they have tickets to cover.

But I don’t know, maybe like others have said they will readjust the buckets closer to day of if there are lots of slots open. That might make me reconsider because yes I can decided to go the day before if I’m not staying onsite. But it still sucks for such an expensive AP

 

[Mit88]

It is at least clear that Disney does not see as much value in local Passholders as some would have thought. I don’t think they’ll do away with AP’s, but I do think the days of being able to visit on a whim, as often as you’d like, are long gone.

We are ( soon to be were, as we’re getting refunds) out of state Passholders. I doubt we’ll go back to multiple visits during the year unless they drop the reservation system as it now exists. If they don’t come back with significant room discounts, AP’s wouldn’t make much sense for us anymore either.

I’m just not making reservations and buying tickets a year or more in advance. So we’ll sit back and see how this all pans out. I suspect the time will come when Disney is begging for guests to return instead of us begging to get to go. I can wait.

I dont mind making reservations for the parks, and that wouldn’t deter me from re-upping my AP. Its the park hopper option that cause me not to renew. Right now, at this moment, its hard to imagine Park Hopping coming back in the near future, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they come back in some form before the end of the year. Not a free-for-all Park Hopper, but an additional park added to your reservation where you can go to 2 parks in a day, rather than just 1. Obviously that cant happen just yet with how the park hours are set, or the low capacity, but maybe by late September, October we could see something where you’re not confined to just 1 park

 

[hertamaniac]

I jokingly said somewhere months ago that Disney would probably wait until the day before the parks are scheduled to open is when our refund would be applied. I think the joke is on me as it's pretty close to what is actually happening.

 

[CastAStone]

Well, no one really has the numbers but AP availability was slim 10 mins after opening.

It’s hard for me to believe that they won’t reallocate non-booked reservations to the AP bucket a few days out. Why let the space go empty when an AP could come and buy a $4 water and the latest park exclusive merch?

 

[Mit88]

Here's the refund/cancel policy

https://blogmickey.com/2020/06/disn...of-restrictive-theme-park-reservation-system/

What I meant was that these options cannot possibly be all that we have when it comes to a final decision. If they are, these options are below barebones alternatives and I’m sure I’m not the only one that has an issue with them.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

People praised Universal for guaranteeing resort guests get into their parks. It appears that Disney may not have officially done this but have in practice done this too with their buckets.

There are a lot of less than ideal things they’ve done with APs during this. I think both locals and out of state have a right to be annoyed with them. But this isn’t your typical downturn, if they have enough people traveling to come to hit whatever break even number they have, it makes a lot of sense to heavily prioritize people staying at the resorts. They don’t need sheer numbers of people to keep them afloat, they need the biggest spenders they can. They’ve got a lot of room for AP holders who are paying their hotel rates, after all. Maybe they’d open spaces day of or close to it when it becomes clear it’s not needed for resort guests.

 

[Spaceguy55]

It’s hard for me to believe that they won’t reallocate non-booked reservations to the AP bucket a few days out. Why let the space go empty when an AP could come and buy a $4 water and the latest park exclusive merch?

I tend to think that will happen too, but they could take it a step farther and open the unused slots for park hopping. I know I start many days there by going to or ending the day at Epcot during the festivals for the food booths.
Too much to hope for at first but maybe after things get a little better.

 

[gottalovepluto]

So those of us who have resort reservations, but not tickets, for late 2020 are still out of luck, correct? Is Disney just not going to have tickets for the rest of 2020 at all?

You are out of luck for now. Disney has said they hope to resume 2020 sales later this summer. Unknown when that will be or if any preferences will be given to people with onsite reservations.

 

[Pksmom03]

Is it really that crazy though? This board is not really representative of the wider public. You have to be pretty dedicated to Disney to be planning a trip to Florida right now.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I tend to think that will happen too, but they could take it a step farther and open the unused slots for park hopping. I know I start many days there by going to or ending the day at Epcot during the festivals for the food booths.
Too much to hope for at first but maybe after things get a little better.

That’s a good point. They could definitely hold those spaces for the time being and add hopping back at different stages for different categories of guest

 

[yulilin3]

A bit of operational news, the unions have agreed with Disney to reconvene during the next 100 days to renegotiate the terms, basically the 14 days paid leave if a CM has the virus and the fact that if a CM has symptoms they can now call and say they won't be going into work and won't get any points against their record, along with other safety measures.

 

[mom2elle]

I am honestly confused by what the AP options actually are. Before this new “you can cancel” option was offered, there was communication about extension of the AP by length of closure, or a refund for the length of closure. Is that option no longer on the table? My family has APs, with original expiration dates of Oct 12. I have cancelled trips in late March, and mid June so far, and may very well cancel my August trip. But, I originally requested that my expiration date no be extended, and that I wanted a refund for length of closure. My intention was to put that 1/3 refund to go towards AP renewals (for trips next year late March and July). The extra four months (which would bring me to Feb, and the bonus one month would bring me to early March. Neither of these extensions help me at all, but the 4ish month refund does help me. But now I am wondering if that isn’t even an option?

 

[Mit88]

People praised Universal for guaranteeing resort guests get into their parks. It appears that Disney may not have officially done this but have in practice done this too with their buckets.

There are a lot of less than ideal things they’ve done with APs during this. I think both locals and out of state have a right to be annoyed with them. But this isn’t your typical downturn, if they have enough people traveling to come to hit whatever break even number they have, it makes a lot of sense to heavily prioritize people staying at the resorts. They don’t need sheer numbers of people to keep them afloat, they need the biggest spenders they can. They’ve got a lot of room for AP holders who are paying their hotel rates, after all. Maybe they’d open spaces day of or close to it when it becomes clear it’s not needed for resort guests.

This, 100%. If they cared about sheer numbers, they would have kept 2020 ticket sales going and let everyone sign up for parks reservations until the capacity filled up. I think the 3 day rule sucks, and I think those passholders at the very least deserve 5 days. But locals do get a lot of other benefits. I for one as an out of state passholder cant plan a trip on a whim around Passholder previews, whether its for the reopening, or new experience openings. I think a lot of people take that for granted. Pandora was open to only APs and DVC members for about a month before they opened up to the general public.

I think they’ll loosen the strings on the bucket system once they’ve opened up. Day of might be tough, but they might open slots maybe the week prior. I think it certainly changes when they start raising the capacity threshold as well.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I am honestly confused by what the AP options actually are. Before this new “you can cancel” option was offered, there was communication about extension of the AP by length of closure, or a refund for the length of closure. Is that option no longer on the table? My family has APs, with original expiration dates of Oct 12. I have cancelled trips in late March, and mid June so far, and may very well cancel my August trip. But, I originally requested that my expiration date no be extended, and that I wanted a refund for length of closure. My intention was to put that 1/3 refund to go towards AP renewals (for trips next year late March and July). The extra four months (which would bring me to Feb, and the bonus one month would bring me to early March. Neither of these extensions help me at all, but the 4ish month refund does help me. But now I am wondering if that isn’t even an option?

You requested it already? I think you should be good whether or not it’s still available. I don’t think anybody has actually had a refund come through yet. We have been told once you request the refund you can’t reverse the decision, so you should get it eventually.

 

[CastAStone]

So those of us who have resort reservations, but not tickets, for late 2020 are still out of luck, correct? Is Disney just not going to have tickets for the rest of 2020 at all?

You are out of luck for now. Disney has said they hope to resume 2020 sales later this summer. Unknown when that will be or if any preferences will be given to people with onsite reservations.

Out of luck is relative... As long as Disney does actually resume sales at some point as they say they will, looking at the resort reservation calendars, you won’t have a problem.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I tend to think that will happen too, but they could take it a step farther and open the unused slots for park hopping. I know I start many days there by going to or ending the day at Epcot during the festivals for the food booths.
Too much to hope for at first but maybe after things get a little better.

I could see that - maybe after a little while and they see how it goes. But would make sense to allow people to "hop" to another park if there is still capacity at that park during that day. Maybe hold a little pace in case someone with a ticket decides to use it that day or only allow it after 4pm or something but definitely a way to enable that without too much trouble

 

[Mit88]

I am honestly confused by what the AP options actually are. Before this new “you can cancel” option was offered, there was communication about extension of the AP by length of closure, or a refund for the length of closure. Is that option no longer on the table? My family has APs, with original expiration dates of Oct 12. I have cancelled trips in late March, and mid June so far, and may very well cancel my August trip. But, I originally requested that my expiration date no be extended, and that I wanted a refund for length of closure. My intention was to put that 1/3 refund to go towards AP renewals (for trips next year late March and July). The extra four months (which would bring me to Feb, and the bonus one month would bring me to early March. Neither of these extensions help me at all, but the 4ish month refund does help me. But now I am wondering if that isn’t even an option?

I’m in almost the exact same position as you. October expiration date (original expiration). Cancelled trip in June. Still scheduled trip in August (and October). But I made the October trip last year for HHN and Disney purposes knowing it aligned with my AP expiration. I have no intention of going during the extension period (October-Mid February) or in march 2021 for the additional Month extension. If I got the 4 month refund, it would go right back to Disney for another AP to get me through the 50th trip.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just a reminder, for those of us like us who may or may not go on our booked Disney trips this year.

If we decide to cancel, I’m going to go in and cancel corresponding park reservations first. Personally I don’t trust Disney IT to automatically do this and we don’t want to hold up valuable park reservations from others who wish to go.